Infants and other incontinent individuals wear wearable articles such as diapers to receive and contain urine and other body exudates. Pull-on wearable articles, or pant-type wearable articles, are those which are donned by inserting the wearer's legs into the leg openings and sliding the article up into position about the lower torso. Pant-type absorbent articles have become popular for use on children who are able to walk and often who are toilet training, as well as for younger children who become more active in movement such that application of taped-type absorbent articles tends to be more difficult.
Many pant-type wearable articles use elastic elements secured in an elastically contractible condition in the waist and/or leg openings. Typically, in order to insure full elastic fit about the leg and the waist such as is provided with durable undergarments, the leg openings and waist opening are encircled at least in part with elasticized elements positioned along the periphery of the respective opening.
Pant-type wearable articles having a main body to cover the crotch region of the wearer and a separate elastic belt defining the waist opening and leg opening are known in the art, such as described in PCT Publication WO 2006/17718A. Such pant-type wearable articles may be referred to as belt-type pants. On the other hand, certain pant-type wearable articles are configured such that the outer cover of the wearable body completely covers the entirety of the garment-facing surface of the article. Such pant-type wearable articles may be referred to as uni-body pants. Belt-type pants, compared to uni-body pants, may be advantageous in having better breathability by having less layers of material in certain areas of the articles, and in that they may be manufactured economically. For belt-type pants, the elastic belt provides fit for not just the waist opening and low torso area, but also for the leg opening, in that the leg opening of belt-type pants are rendered elastic by the combination of elasticity provided by the main body and the elastic belt. Thus, for belt-type pants, sag protection and good fit for the entire article are mainly provided by the elastic belt. Providing a certain tensile stress for the elastic belt is essential for providing sag protection and good fit for the entire article. The elastic belt of belt-type pants are economically rendered elasticity by disposing a plurality of elastic strands running in the transverse direction of the article. The tensile force provided by the relatively thin elastic strands may lead to red marking of the wearer's skin. Further, the tensile force provided by the elastic strands may lead to discomfort of the wearer.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a pant-type wearable article having balanced performance such as fit, comfort during wear, prevention of sagging, prevention of leakage, and prevention of red marking. There is further a need for providing such a wearable article in an economical manner.